RCB eye playoffs berth against Punjab Kings

Dubai

Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to inch closer tosecuring a playoff berth when they clash with Punjab Kings intheir Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.

Eyeing their first IPL title triumph, RCB are currentlyplaced third in the pecking order with seven wins and four defeats for a totalof 14 points.

Another two points from a win will almost assure them of aplace in the place-offs but for that, RCB will need to put it across Punjab Kingswho are coming off a morale-boosting win against Kolkata Knight Riders.

With their five-wicket victory over KKR, Punjab Kingstoo kept alive their prospects of making the playoffs, even though they aredown at fifth position with 12 points after five wins and seven reverses.

Up against an ambitious RCB outfit, Punjab Kingswill have their task cut out at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Even though he didn't go on to make a big score, ViratKohli looked good during his stay in the middle in his team's victoryover Rajasthan Royals, as did the skipper's young opening partner DevduttPadikkal.

Both of them played some cracking shots before the in-formstar all-rounder Glenn Maxwell completed the job with his secondstraight half-century.

If the situation demands, like in their last outing, Maxwell canagain afford to look at Srikar Bharat to build a solidpartnership in the middle overs.

Batting down the order this season, AB de Villiers providesRCB the kind of cushion the other teams lack, and Punjab Kings arewell aware of this fact.

The bowling will be manned by the likes of MohammedSiraj, Harshal Patel, Shahbaz Ahmed and Yuzvendra Chahal,who has overcome his past struggles with some very impressive spells thisseason, adding to RCB's strengths.

Punjab Kings, on the other hand, will again rely on theirtrusted opening duo of skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal toprovide them a flying start. They were among the runs against KKR, and willlook to do an encore against RCB. The biggest plus for Punjab Kingsheading into the RCB game is their death bowling that paved the way for theirwin in the last match. Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh's twoincisive overs at the death went a long way in setting up Punjab's victoryagainst KKR, and the team would hope for a similar outing from the two againstRCB. Teams (from): Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), NavdeepSaini, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Rajat Patidar, DushmanthaChameera, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel,Mohammed Azharuddeen, Sachin Baby, Wanindu Hasaranga, GeorgeGarton, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal, KyleJamieson, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat, Tim David, AkashDeep, AB de Villiers.

Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (captain), MayankAgarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Shahrukh Khan, MohammedShami, Nathan Ellis, Adil Rashid, Murugan Ashwin, HarpreetBrar, Moises Henriques, Chris Jordan, Aiden Markram,Mandeep Singh, Darsan Nalkande, Prabhsimran Singh, RaviBIshnoi, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar, JalajSaxena. Match Starts: 3:30 pm IST.